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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/28177515">Baby Driver</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_of_lions/pseuds/mother_of_lions'>mother_of_lions</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Merlin (TV)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Bottom!Arthur Pendragon, Car Sex, Cars, Driving, Explicit Sex, Lies, M/M, Smut, Soft Arthur Pendragon (Merlin), Sort Of, Stunt Driver!Merlin, top!Merlin</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-19</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-10 20:27:21</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>13,447</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/28177515</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/mother_of_lions/pseuds/mother_of_lions</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Looking up, Merlin caught sight of the billboard and almost crashed into the divider.<br/>The center of the ad had featured a gorgeous, cherry red Aston Martin DBS with the hottest model he'd ever seen leaned casually against the side.<br/>Merlin <i>had</i> to meet that guy.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Merlin/Arthur Pendragon (Merlin)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>18</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>199</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Collections:</b></td><td>Round Table Gift Exchange 2020</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Baby Driver</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><ul class="associations">
      <li>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excaliburstark/gifts">Excaliburstark</a>.</li>



    </ul><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>For <a href="https://archiveofourown.org/users/Excaliburstark/pseuds/Excaliburstark">Excaliburstark</a><br/>I was so excited to have received you for the exchange and I hope you love this fic as much as I enjoyed writing it! Happy Holidays!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Merlin yanked on the gearstick, shifting the car into Reverse. Winding backwards around the corner, he spun the wheel in his hands, drawing the front end of the car around in the opposite direction and felt the tires skid smoothly across the street as he turned. Whipping the steering wheel around, he was just pressing his foot down on the accelerator when the voice of the director crackled to life in his ear.</p><p>“Cut!” called Gaius. “That was good, Merlin! Let’s run it one more time, and then you’re done for today.”</p><p>Sliding the gear shift back into Drive, Merlin steadily returned the way he had come and pulled the stunt car back to the starting position. He rolled down his window just enough to stick his hand out to signal that he was ready, and waited to hear Elyan’s smooth voice countdown over the earpiece.</p><p>“3…2…1. Whenever you’re ready, Merlin,” Elyan said, the earpiece crackling again.</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Merlin revved the engine in warning before slamming on the accelerator, the tires squealing as he took off and ran the course again.</p><p>Merlin had begun driving over a decade ago, on the night of his twelfth birthday. After waiting for her to fall asleep, he had stolen his mother’s aging Hyundai for a joyride down their back-country roads with his childhood friend, Will. From there, Merlin’s interest had turned into obsession, reading every car and driving magazine he could get his hands on and teaching himself how to rebuild his father’s old ’67 Shelby Mustang in his spare time.</p><p>The obsession had eventually led Merlin to attempt tricks, beginning with a simple backwards drive and working himself up to running extravagant, complex courses and breaking several world records. After graduating from high school, he had gotten an official certification for stunt driving and began sending out recordings of himself completing courses, trying to land a job as a professional stunt driver. He had come a long way since then, and now lived as one of the most sought-after stunt drivers in the country.</p><p>The car spun out perfectly as he completed the set, the thrill of driving a course exactly as planned making Merlin’s blood pound through his veins. His earpiece crackled once more, Elyan coming on to congratulate him on a great run. After he returned the car to the garage, he would be free to go home for the day.</p><p>Panting a little, Merlin drove the car back to the garage, his racing heartbeat a sharp contrast with the slow and smooth drive off the set. Parking, he got out of the car and took off his helmet and gloves, ruffling his sweaty hair while he walked to the changing rooms to put on his street clothes.</p><p>Once changed, he made his way to the staff garage and started up his aging truck to begin the drive home. He had been driving on the highway for only a few minutes, the truck rattling as it protested going faster than a casual 45 miles per hour. Looking up, Merlin caught sight of a billboard and almost crashed into the divider.</p><p>His mouth fell open, and the wheel went slack in his hands, careening sharply towards the barricade that separated each side of the road. Catching himself, Merlin straightened and jerked the wheel back to the center of the lane, narrowly missing scraping his fender on the massive chunk of concrete. He forced himself to keep his eyes on the road while the image on the ad seared itself to the inside of his eyelids.</p><p>The ad itself wasn’t really anything special, merely offering private driving lessons for a reasonable fee. But the man in the image…he was enough for Merlin to forget everything he had ever learned about cars and driving.</p><p>The center of the ad had featured a gorgeous, cherry red Aston Martin DBS with an even more stunning man leaned casually against the side, dressed in slim fitting, dark jeans and a simple gray tee shirt, pulled tight across his chest underneath a worn leather jacket. His arms were crossed while he gazed intently off to the side, Aviators glinting under the set light. The man was presumably only a model – there was no way someone that pretty was something as basic as a <em>driving instructor</em> – but, what if he was the instructor? Was Merlin really that lucky?</p><p>Merlin wracked his brain, trying to remember the number or address on the billboard, but he had missed it entirely, too distracted by the gorgeous, god of a man featured on the billboard. He spent the rest of his drive home committing the image to memory.</p><p>After parking outside his house, Merlin pulled out his cell phone and dismissed the notifications he still hadn’t checked from earlier that day and ran a search for “driving lessons near me”. The browser, predictably, stalled, his usually reliable internet slowing as it sensed his desperation.</p><p>Rolling his eyes and groaning in frustration, Merlin clicked the screen off and cut the engine. He gathered his things and headed inside, telling himself it was a sign that he was never to find out if the man in the photo was the instructor or not.</p><p>Going inside, he went about his evening routine, preparing dinner and unwinding from the day. Sitting cross-legged on the couch with his plate, Merlin pulled out his phone again and opened the browser. Connecting immediately this time, the search brought up several options for driving lessons in the area. Clicking through each of them, he quickly ruled out one after the other. Reaching the bottom of the list, he clicked hopelessly on the hyperlink for <em>Pendragon’s Driving School.</em></p><p>The website took forever to load.</p><p>Gradually, the image from the billboard appeared on the screen. Merlin couldn’t believe his luck. Scrolling down the page, he came across a tab with videos on everything from how to get your driver’s license to how to change a tire on the side of the road.</p><p>The man in the video was none other than the man from the ad.</p><p>He introduced himself as Arthur Pendragon in every video, patiently and thoroughly going over each topic. Merlin stayed up way later than he should have watching the videos, despite knowing this information already. He fell asleep clutching his phone, his dreams filled with Arthur Pendragon, <em>professional driving instructor</em>, teaching him to drive.</p><p>///\\\</p><p>Merlin spent the following afternoon combing every inch of Pendragon’s Driving School website for photos and video of the hot instructor. He clicked on the tab to sign up for driving lessons. The price wasn’t too bad; it would cover 20 hours of instructed driving and the fee for the test (that he wouldn’t even be taking!).</p><p>Merlin minimized the window, losing his nerve.</p><p><em>This is ridiculous,</em> he thought to himself. <em>You can already drive. You don’t need to pay for lessons. Even if he </em>is<em> hot.</em></p><p>The memory of the billboard image flashed through his mind, reminding Merlin just <em>how</em> attractive the instructor was.</p><p>Sighing in defeat, Merlin reopened the window and filled out the form and hit submit. He closed his laptop and braced his elbows on the table, covering his face with his hands.</p><p>This had to be the stupidest thing Merlin had ever done just for the chance to meet someone pretty.</p><p>///\\\</p><p>Several days and a short phone call later, Merlin arrived at Pendragon’s Driving School. He parked his car a couple blocks away on the edge of the nearby neighborhood, so as not to give himself away, and walked the short distance to the fenced-in property.</p><p>The small office building attached to the garage was the only one around for several blocks, sitting on the edge of a small parking lot holding a few cars. Attached to the back of the building was a large car garage, the sliding doors pushed up to allow the breeze in. Attached to the garage was a large, oval shaped driving track, probably a mile all the way around. As he got closer, the smell of gasoline and rubber greeted him, welcoming him to the school like an old friend.</p><p>Entering the building, Merlin approached the small desk near the front and smiled, waving shyly at the receptionist. She looked up and gestured for him to take a seat on the opposite side of the desk in one of the plastic chairs and immediately jumped into her spiel.</p><p>“Hi, Merlin, right? I’m Mithian, we spoke on the phone. We’re so glad to have you here at Pendragon Driving School! I know you already filled out the paperwork online, but I just need you to give me a few signatures,” Mithian set a small stack of paper clipped papers in front of him along with a pen. “Before we get started, did you have any questions?”</p><p>“Um, no. Thank you, though.” Merlin replied, picking up the pen and skimming to the highlighted spaces waiting for his signature. “Oh, um, actually, who’s the teacher? The website didn’t say and I forgot to ask over the phone.”</p><p>If it wasn’t Arthur, Merlin would suffer through this lesson and cancel the remaining hours. This was already embarrassing enough, he didn’t need to waste any more time on finding the man from the advert.</p><p>“Arthur handles all the lessons himself, actually. Sometimes we have a few others, but usually it’s just him,” Mithian said brightly, shifting her attention back to her computer screen while Merlin busied himself with the paperwork.</p><p>Merlin handed the signed papers back to the receptionist. She took them with a polite smile and gestured to the small array of chairs on the other side of the room. “You can take a seat over there and he’ll be out to get you in a minute.”</p><p>Merlin made his way to the cushioned chairs that served as the waiting area. No more than a minute or two later, a door in the back squeaked open. Emerging from the hallway that led to the garage was the same man from the billboard, Arthur Pendragon. Backlit by the sunlight from outside, his blond hair seemed to glow and shimmer like a crown upon his head, giving him an even greater ethereal and godlike quality. He was dressed in almost the exact same outfit from the advert and looked like he’d just walked out off the set of a modeling shoot instead of a dingy car garage.</p><p>Merlin took a moment to drink in the sight of the man as he walked over to the reception desk and spoke to Mithian in low tones. Arthur’s thighs were thicker than Merlin had thought, the denim of his jeans flexing with every step. The tee shirt, a dark red today, was stretched tight across his chest in the same way Merlin remembered, the sleeves snug around bulging biceps and begging to be traced with Merlin’s tongue. The Aviators hung from the collar of his shirt, making it dip into a shallow vee and exposing the ends of his clavicles, which were asking for Merlin to bite.</p><p>Mithian glanced over at him and Merlin jerked his gaze back down to his phone, trying to pretend like he hadn’t just been openly ogling the instructor.</p><p>“Merlin?” Arthur’s deep voice called out. Merlin raised his hand in greeting and clicked off his phone screen, shoving it into his pocket as he stood.</p><p>“Yeah, that’s me,” he said, walking towards Arthur.</p><p>Arthur stuck his hand out in greeting. “Arthur Pendragon. I’ll be your instructor today.” Merlin gave him a firm shake, silently relishing the steady warmth Arthur’s hand emanated. “If you’ll come this way, we can talk about what we’ll be doing today. If you have any questions, just ask.” He turned and strode off without waiting for a response, leaving Merlin to scramble to catch up. “The black Jeep, if you will. Should be unlocked, so go ahead and get situated.”</p><p>Merlin walked towards the car, wiping his sweaty palms off on his jeans. He hadn’t had driving lessons in over a decade, much less formal instruction. What if he gave himself away and Arthur refused to teach him? Then this whole charade would be for nothing. He opened the car door and got in, pushing the seat back and lifting the steering wheel to make room for his long legs. He adjusted the mirrors, making sure he could see out of them clearly. Drumming his fingers nervously on the steering wheel, he watched Arthur approach out of the side mirror and took a deep breath. This would be fine. Merlin could do this.</p><p>“Do you have any driving experience?” Arthur asked, sliding into the passenger seat beside Merlin and buckling his seatbelt.</p><p>“Uh, not really. Just driving through a couple parking lots and stuff like that,” Merlin replied. It wasn’t <em>technically</em> a lie. The parking lots he usually drove through just had a bit more to them.</p><p>“Okay, great. So you’re familiar with the concept, then.” Arthur took a moment to situate himself, adjusting the seat and tucking his phone in the glove compartment. He looked over at Merlin and gave him a grin. “Ready?”</p><p>Merlin nodded dumbly, his mouth going dry. This was a terrible, stupid idea.</p><p>“Alright. Go ahead and turn the engine on and back out of the space. We’re just going to go around the track a bit, no real roads until you’re a little more comfortable,” Arthur paused, waiting for Merlin to start the engine. “You seem a bit tense.”</p><p>“Um, I’ve never actually backed a car up before. Usually I just drive forward,” Merlin stuttered. He resisted the urge to cover his face with his hands, feeling his cheeks heat up. This was so embarrassing.</p><p>At least it was believable.</p><p>Arthur raised his eyebrows. “Alright, no problem. Go ahead and start it and I’ll walk you through it.”</p><p>Merlin turned the key, and the engine purred to life.</p><p>Arthur smirked, “Don’t worry. If the teenagers can’t harm it, I’m sure you’ll do fine.” He adjusted himself in his seat, sitting forward so that he could look behind them without getting in Merlin’s line of sight. “Backing up is pretty easy. Keep your foot on the break, shift the gear into Reverse - that’s the one with the big R - then look over your shoulder to make sure no one’s coming.”</p><p>“Gee thanks, not sure I would have figured that out myself,” Merlin sniped before he could catch himself. Rolling his eyes, Merlin shifted into Reverse and turned to look over his shoulder out the rear window.</p><p>Beside him, Arthur snorted. “You’re the one that asked. Do you see anyone?”</p><p>“Um, no. Should I?”</p><p>Arthur ignored him. “Ease off the break and the car will start to roll. Tap the gas a little.” Merlin pressed down this side of too hard, causing the Jeep to lurch backwards. “Whoa, easy there. Just a little pressure, the pedals are a little touchy.”</p><p>The Jeep rolled backwards and Merlin turned the wheel, backing smoothly out of the space.</p><p>“Great. Straighten up, and once we get out of the garage, we’re going to go to the right around the track.”</p><p>Merlin straightened the wheel and accidentally pressed too hard on the gas again. The Jeep lurched,  making Arthur catch his breath a little. Merlin smiled to himself, “Sorry.”</p><p>“It’s fine, just keep going.”</p><p>“So you don’t get a lot of adults, then?” Merlin asked casually, circling back to what Arthur had said earlier.</p><p>“Eh, not really. We mostly teach teens. Every once and a while though, we get adults who’ve never driven before,” Arthur said, pointing in the direction he wanted Merlin to go as a reminder. Merlin eased the Jeep around the track, feeling his nerves settle now that he was actually driving. “Today’s lesson will be the most boring, just getting you used to being behind the wheel and driving. Go ahead and speed up a bit if you want.”</p><p>Merlin pressed on the accelerator, following the large smooth oval that had been marked out in bright orange cones. He cruised down the flat stretch until he came up to the turn and pressed on the break, slowing to a crawl.</p><p>Arthur chuckled, “You don’t have to slow down so much, you know. But as long as you’re comfortable. Some of the younger ones try to zip around it, going double the speed we were earlier, so I guess I should be grateful you’d rather err on the side of caution.”</p><p>“Don’t Jeeps tip easy?” Merlin asked, mentally thinking through all the things he could probably get the vehicle to do. He didn’t drive a lot of four-wheel drive vehicles, but if anyone could get one to submit, it would be Merlin. “I’m not keen on dying at a driving school. That would be embarrassing. What would they put in my obituary?”</p><p>“’Area Man Dies While Learning to Drive,’” Arthur laughed. “Never even made it on the highway.”</p><p>Merlin laughed with him, comfortable silence taking over as he sped up around the track.</p><p>“How many laps did you want me to do?” Merlin asked after his third lap.</p><p>“Um, well the first lesson is supposed to be at least two hours, so just do a couple. We’ll turn around and go the other way in a bit. We can work on backing if you want, too, since you haven’t done it before. Get the basics in and all that,” Arthur mused.</p><p>Merlin nodded, flicking his eyes over to Arthur. The other man had his elbow braced along the top of the door next to the window. His gaze was trained on Merlin, a thoughtful look in his blue eyes. Arthur quirked the corner of his mouth when he caught Merlin’s eyes, the tiny smile making him blush again. Merlin turned to look out the windshield and continued driving, following Arthur’s instructions and trying to remember to keep his hands in the correct positions on the wheel as he ignored the urge to look back over to Arthur.</p><p>Overall, Merlin had a good time. Arthur was quite funny; they quickly developed a good rapport, joking and laughing for most of the lesson. All through the drive, Merlin could feel every time Arthur looked over at him. His skin prickled and he became hyper aware of his own movements, trying not to do anything stupid and give himself away while still looking competent behind the wheel. On the few occasions when Merlin finally gathered the courage to glance over again, Arthur would be looking out the window or down at his phone, typing away.</p><p>Merlin was doing his best not to overthink it. Finding out whether Arthur was single or not, and what kind of people he was interested in, was next on Merlin’s list of things to accomplish during the next lesson.</p><p>Finally, an hour and a half later, Arthur told him to park the Jeep back in the garage. Getting out of the car, they headed back inside the office and Arthur walked him all the way to the waiting room. The comfortable silence they’d shared earlier suddenly became awkward.</p><p>“Well,” Arthur started to say, his face turning pink.</p><p>Merlin extended his hand, a parody of their first meeting only a few hours ago. “It was nice to meet you, Arthur.”</p><p>Arthur grasped it tightly, and shook once. “You, too. I’ll see you in a few days, then? Try not to tip any cars between now and then.”</p><p>They shared a small laugh, Arthur’s eyes flickering down to Merlin’s lips and back so fast Merlin almost missed it. Arthur nodded awkwardly, smile tightening, before turning on his heel and escaping back to the garage.</p><p>Sighing, Merlin turned and made the short walk back to his own car and headed home.</p><p>This had been a <em>great</em> decision.</p><p>///\\\</p><p>“Ready to go?”</p><p>Merlin looked up from his phone to see Arthur walking his way, Aviators shielding his eyes from view. He stood and nodded, “Ready as I’ll ever be.”</p><p>Arthur gestured for Merlin to follow him back to the garage. “Today we’re going to work on parallel parking. You’re gonna love it.”</p><p>Internally, Merlin sighed. Parallel parking was the worst. At least he wouldn’t have to pretend too hard to be bad at it.</p><p>Arthur showed him to a white Honda this time instead of the black Jeep.</p><p>“It’s easier to learn this in these smaller cars, I think.”</p><p>Making a skeptical face to his reflection in the window, Merlin opened the door and slid into the seat, adjusting the mirrors and clicking his seatbelt into place. Arthur followed suit on the passenger side.</p><p>“Go ahead and turn it on and back out. We’re going to the track again. We’ll do a couple warm up laps, get you readjusted to driving since you haven’t done it since our last session.”</p><p>Merlin smiled awkwardly at him, thinking about his Mustang parked around the block from the driving school. Misinterpreting, Arthur smiled lightly back, and gave him an encouraging nod.</p><p>Merlin spent the next three hours attempting to parallel park between a set of stupid, neon orange cones. Most of his struggles were real. Parallel parking was invented by the devil. He knew he could spin and drift the car into a parallel spot, but he couldn’t exactly do that now, could he?</p><p>Merlin’s frustration finally got the better of him. Gritting his teeth, Merlin sighed and leaned forward, hitting his forehead against the top of the steering wheel. Arthur watched him for a moment, a small, sympathetic smile on his face. “We can stop now, if you’d like. You can do it well enough to pass the test for now.”</p><p>“But it’s not perfect,” Merlin countered grumpily.</p><p>“We can work on it later. Let’s take a break before you get too upset,” Arthur gave Merlin a flirtatious wink as he delivered his next sentence. “Maybe try to avoid parallel parking in the future.”</p><p>Merlin’s stomach fluttered and he managed a weak smile back, feeling his cheeks warm up with a blush. Arthur made him drive circles around the track for the next hour, going a range of speeds. Merlin even got to back around the whole thing once.</p><p>Walking back to the front office, Arthur clapped him on the shoulder, “You did good today, Merlin. You’re going to be a great driver.” He gave Merlin one last reassuring smile, revealing slightly crooked teeth that made Merlin’s heart melt into his shoes. Feeling less frustrated about his failings during the lesson, Merlin walked back to his parked car and started the engine home. Flicking through his playlists, an idea struck him.</p><p>Merlin needed to vindicate himself after his failure at parallel parking.</p><p>Leaving the driving school, Merlin drove to the empty practice lot that he and Elyan used when they had some free time. Merlin parked haphazardly and got out, setting up the minimal equipment he needed: four cones, spaced out just slightly larger than the size of his car. Getting back in, he fastened his seatbelt and did a few warm-up laps, drifting sharply around the turns. Coming around the turn again, Merlin pulled the emergency brake and turned the wheel sharply, the car spinning around a perfect 90 degrees and sliding neatly into the spot.</p><p>Merlin drove out of the spot and did it again. And again, and again, and again. Just to prove that he could.</p><p>Finally satisfied that he could do the stupid parallel park, Merlin returned the cones to their home outside the stunt garage. He checked over his car just to make sure he hadn’t worn the tires down too much during his fit of pique and made the drive back home, replaying Arthur’s gentle smiles in his mind.</p><p>Merlin was halfway home when he realized he never managed to ask if Arthur was single or not.</p><p>///\\\</p><p>Merlin arrived at the school for his third lesson too early. Lingering in the parking lot, he debated just going back to his car to kill time, but he was already here. He just wanted to get this over with. Opening the door, he strode in and moved his sunglasses to hang from the collar of his shirt. He returned Mithian’s greeting and made to go sit in one of the chairs when Mithians voice stopped him.</p><p>“Arthur said to send you back as soon as you arrived, so go ahead and go to the garage. He’s working on one of the cars, it started making an odd noise after the last lesson.”</p><p>Merlin nodded and walked the now familiar path to the garage. Pushing open the squeaky door, he entered and looked around for Arthur’s shiny blond head. Not seeing anyone, he walked further into the garage and called out, “Arthur?”</p><p>“Over here,” came the reply from the opposite end of the garage. Merlin walked slowly in that direction, scanning the area between the parked cars for Arthur. As he reached the end, he finally saw the raised hood of the car needing repairs, but no Arthur.</p><p>“Arthur?” he said again. “Where are you?”</p><p>A slight squeak and the sound of hard plastic wheels on concrete prefaced Arthur’s face appearing from under the car. Arthur smiled up at him from his position on the creeper seat and Merlin almost swallowed his tongue.</p><p>Arthur’s normally clean face was smudged with grease, and sweat made his hair fall damply across his forehead instead of its usual messed up style. He wore a pair of faded blue coveralls, the sleeves rolled to the elbow to reveal thick, muscular forearms covered in a thin layer of sweat and grit from working on the engine. The torso section of the coveralls was unbuttoned down to his mid-abdomen, revealing a slightly dirty, ribbed white tank top, stretched tightly across his chest and almost see-through from the sweat.</p><p>While Merlin tried to remember how to speak English, Arthur rolled out from under the car and sat up on the seat. Standing, he turned to face Merlin and extended his hand in greeting. Arthur looked down at his grease covered hand and frowned, “Sorry, forgot about that.” He pulled his hand back and smiled again, though somewhat dimmed.</p><p>Merlin nodded and stammered out his own greeting, trying to remember how to like a normal fucking person, goddamn it.</p><p>“It started smoking a bit when the last kid brought it back in. Pretty sure the radiator hose is busted.” Arthur shrugged. He picked up a towel on the hood of a nearby car and wiped his hands off. “Let me go clean up a little and we’ll do your lesson, yeah?”</p><p>Still unable to get his mouth and brain to cooperate, Merlin nodded. He watched Arthur walk back towards the main building, the coverall trousers clinging to Arthur’s tight, rounded ass.</p><p>Figuring he had a few minutes to kill before Arthur would return, Merlin stuck his head under the propped-up hood of the car. Nothing <em>looked</em> out of place. He glanced down at the floor and picked up the flashlight out of Arthur’s toolbox. Flicking it on, he looked closer at the engine block.</p><p><em>Gotcha,</em> Merlin thought to himself. A tiny crack on the cylinder head, no doubt getting bigger every time the engine ran. The door to the garage squeaked again, signaling Arthur’s return. He needed to tell Arthur what was wrong with the car, but how to tell him without giving himself away?</p><p>“See anything interesting in there?” Arthur asked, an amused smirk on his face as he gave Merlin a lingering once over. Arthur had changed into his customary jeans and tee shirt, his face wiped clean of grease except for a smudge in the hollow behind his jaw.</p><p>The grease smudge looked like a hickey, filling Merlin with white hot jealousy. The overwhelming urge to reach over and wipe it away with his thumb and replace it with a mark of his own filled Merlin. Realizing he was staring, Merlin jerked his eyes back up to Arthur’s and smiled.</p><p>“Actually, uh, is this supposed to be cracked like this?” he gestured to the cylinder head.</p><p>“What?” Arthur’s voice took on a serious tone, his demeanor changing from light and playful to serious in a heartbeat, sending a shiver of arousal down Merlin’s spine. He strode over and tucked his head under the hood next to Merlin, his presence filling the small space and standing far closer than was strictly necessary.</p><p>Merlin was close enough now to smell him, hints of aftershave and grease and sweat filling his nose. He licked his lips and tried not to stare, forcing himself to turn back to the engine. He pointed the light at the crack, keeping the handle out of Arthur’s line of sight. “Just there, on the edge.”</p><p>Arthur leaned closer and put his hand inside, feeling for it with the pad of his thumb. “Good catch, Merlin. Not sure I would have seen that on my own.” He looked over his shoulder at Merlin and winked. Startled, Merlin jerked back and bumped his head on the hood, dropping the flashlight to the ground with a clatter.</p><p>“Ouch! Shit,” Merlin’s hand went to the back of his head, gingerly touching the now throbbing spot.</p><p>“Damn, are you okay? That must have hurt.” Arthur stood up straight and stepped closer, moving Merlin’s hands so he could get a look. “Move your hands, let me see. If you’re bleeding, you can’t drive today.”</p><p>“I’m fine, I swear. Just hurts a bit.”</p><p>Merlin stood patiently while Arthur’s warm hands cradled the back of his neck. He could feel Arthur’s warm breath on the back of his neck, his body so close Merlin could feel the heat radiating off him despite the warmth of the garage.</p><p>“No blood,” Arthur confirmed. “Going to have a nice bump, though. Let me go get you some ice.”</p><p>Arthur headed back towards the office, the door squeaking again and making Merlin’s head throb. Arthur really needed to get some WD40 and fix that.</p><p>Returning a minute later, he handed Merlin a small bag of ice wrapped in paper towels. Arthur stepped back and gave Merlin an appraising look. “Thanks for catching that crack, though. I really appreciate it. Think you’re still up for a drive?”</p><p>/\</p><p>“Does anyone ever <em>actually</em> park uphill or downhill?” Merlin asked skeptically a while later. He was so tired of relearning how to park his own damn car. “This is stupid. If I promise to never ever park on a hill, can we skip it?”</p><p>Arthur laughed with his whole body, throwing his head back and exposing the tanned column of his neck, “I don’t think the driving test monitor will see it that way, <em>Mer</em>lin.” He gestured for Merlin to get in the Jeep again. “Besides, you just have to pass the test. Whatever you do after this is irrelevant. Provided you don’t get a ticket. It makes the school look bad and all.”</p><p>Merlin rolled his eyes as they headed to the Jeep Merlin drove the first time. After taking a painkiller, he had helped Arthur to clean up the mess from checking out the damaged car and waited for his head to stop hurting so painfully. It was down to a distant ache now, the extra time he got with Arthur more than making up for the minor bump. Getting to the jeep, Merlin took his place in the drivers’ seat. After adjusting everything to suit him, he started the engine and backed out of the space.</p><p>“We’ll do it on the track a couple of times first, and then we’ll go out for a bit and let you practice on a real hill.”</p><p>“Delightful. Can’t wait,” Merlin muttered mutinously under his breath.</p><p>Arthur made him do every type of park five times each before he let Merlin drive away from the school. Before they left the track, Arthur graciously let Merlin hook up his own phone to the aux player. Rolling down the windows, they let in the cool evening air and listened to Merlin’s music as they cruised down the near empty neighborhood streets.</p><p>They drove for nearly ten minutes, leaving the neighborhood entirely and moving out to the empty backroads, talking about nothing in particular. Turning down a hilly stretch of road, Arthur gestured for Merlin to slow down and pull over.</p><p>Merlin sighed theatrically, rolling his eyes as he went through the motions of doing an uphill park. Arthur watched him with an imperiously raised eyebrow, only glancing away to ensure the Jeep wasn’t about to tip over into the grassy shoulder. Finishing up, Merlin pulled the parking brake and looked over at Arthur in triumph before an icy wash of fear cascaded over him.</p><p>
  <em>Shit.</em>
</p><p>He had forgotten he wasn’t supposed to have done this before today. He would have to do worse on the next one and maybe Arthur would let it slide as a fluke. Struggling to keep his sudden nerves from showing on his face, Merlin waited for Arthur’s verdict.</p><p>“Not bad, Emrys, not bad at all.” Arthur finally said, after a cold sweat had broken out on Merlin’s back. “Pull back on the road and we’ll keep going.”</p><p>Merlin nodded and did as he was told, remembering to turn his blinker on at the last second. They drove over the hill in silence, Merlin feeling overly conscious of every move he made. He kept his hands at the correct positions on the wheel, checked the mirrors obsessively and kept his speed right at the limit.</p><p>The fun cruise had now turned into a stress-filled attempt to maintain his cover. Merlin needed to relax. He was here to get to know Arthur, and hopefully land a date before his lessons were over. Merlin was snapped out of his overthinking session by Arthur’s voice.</p><p>“Pull over on this downhill and park for me, please.”</p><p>Signaling, Merlin slowed and pulled over. He glanced over at Arthur’s face, but he was turned away, looking out the window and watching the jeep tires in the mirror. Merlin went through the downhill parking process slowly, stuttering at all the right places. Finally, taking several more minutes than the uphill park had, he finished and pulled up the emergency brake again.</p><p>Arthur looked over at him then, his brow lightly furrowed. “Struggling with the downhill, then?”</p><p>“Um,” Merlin swallowed. “A bit, yeah, I guess. Is it that obvious?” He tried for a joking tone, but it fell flat in the suddenly stiff Jeep cab air.</p><p>Arthur’s eyes stared into his, hard, searching for something. Merlin tried to keep his eyes as wide and guileless as possible, giving as little as possible away. He hadn’t realized he had been slowly leaning in towards Arthur until the other man jerked back, eyes snapping down to the phone in his hand. Arthur coughed and cleared his throat.</p><p>“Um. Yes, well. Good. Just, uh. Good parking.” He coughed lightly into his shirt collar. “Keep driving.” He reached over and flicked the stereo volume up, the sound of the band playing filling the air.</p><p>Merlin turned back to the road, his eyes flaring wide and giving a light shake of his head to shake off the weirdness that had just happened. Releasing the emergency brake, he signaled and checked for oncoming traffic. Seeing none, he drove forward to straighten out the tires and pulled smoothly onto the road.</p><p>They drove on for several minutes in relative silence, only the sounds of Merlin’s driving playlist pouring through the speakers. Merlin followed Arthur’s gestures, taking random turns and following whatever map Arthur must have been following in his head.</p><p>A few minutes later, there was a loud popping sound and the whole car shuddered. The wheel veered sharply to the side in Merlin’s hands and he struggled to keep the Jeep straight.</p><p>“Fuck,” Arthur swore. “Pull over. Must have hit something.”</p><p>“What? I didn’t see anything, I swear,” Merlin interjected in a light panic. There hadn’t been anything in the road. No boards, no oddly placed bags or debris.</p><p>“No, you wouldn’t have. Some kids out here have figured out a better way of hiding stuff in the road so you can’t see it. We’re just unlucky.” Arthur reassured him. He unbuckled his seatbelt and cracked the door open, beginning to step out. Turning back, he smirked at Merlin. “Need to change out the tire though. Come on, you get to learn a new skill today.”</p><p>Merlin faced the road again and gave the asphalt an irritated look. “I could change that tire faster than you with my eyes closed,” he muttered. Unbuckling, he opened the door and followed Arthur out.</p><p>Walking around to the back of the Jeep, Merlin was greeted with the delicious sight of Arthur’s arms flexing as he lifted the jacks out from under the seats and carried them to either side of the Jeep. <em>Never mind,</em> he thought. <em>This made it worth it.</em></p><p>Going back to the cargo area, Arthur opened the door and pulled out his toolbox, carrying that around to the front as well. Merlin watched appreciatively from his place near the rear of the car, Arthur’s flexed arms popping with veins and tendons that Merlin definitely needed to get his tongue on.</p><p>Setting the box down, Arthur bent over and gave Merlin an even better view. Arthur flipped the clasps on the box and bent the lid back to rifle through it, straightening up when he found what he needed. Merlin barely contained the groan that tried to escape, and tried to look anywhere but at Arthur when he turned around and came back towards where Merlin stood near the back of the Jeep.</p><p>“Help me get this tire off,” Arthur instructed, demonstrating where Merlin needed to put his hands to hold it steady. They ended up half wrapped around the other, their arms intertwined. Merlin’s right side pressed up against Arthur’s left and made him feel like he’d been set on fire, he was so hot from the simple touch. Willing his dick to obey, Merlin pointedly looked off into the trees that lined the road and tried to think about literally anything else.</p><p>Until Arthur nudged him back into existence. “Hold out your hand,” he said, his voice low and husky. “I need you to hold these nuts.”</p><p>Merlin choked, almost losing his grip on the tire. “W-what?”</p><p>“The nuts that hold the tire on,” Arthur glanced at him out of the corner of his eye and held one up. “I don’t particularly want to be hunting it down in a bit when we lose the light.”</p><p>“Oh, yeah, right,” Merlin nodded and readjusted his grip on the tire to hold his hand out.</p><p>Arthur dropped the nuts and bolts into his waiting palm, not even attempting to hide his quiet laugh. Hardware removed, Merlin lifted the tire off the supports and settled it more firmly in his grip. He held out his hand once more to Arthur, offering the bolts that had held the tire in place. Arthur took them and Merlin resisted the urge to give a full body shudder as his fingertips brushed lightly along his palm, scooping the bits of metal into his own broad hand.</p><p>“Thanks,” Arthur said softly, an odd look in his eyes. He shook himself and cleared his throat, pocketing the bolts and walking over to the toolbox and picking up the needed equipment. He nodded his head and flashed Merlin an awkward smile, walking back to the middle of the car. “Go ahead and put the tire down. We need to jack it up, first.”</p><p>Merlin bit down on his tongue to keep his strangled noise from escaping, a vivid image of jacking Arthur off filling his mind. Setting the tire down on the asphalt, he started to bend down to pick up the jack and begin setting it up when he remembered he wasn’t supposed to have done this before.</p><p>“Ah, how do we go about changing the tire, then?” Merlin asked instead, not sure if he liked the gleam Arthur got in his eye.</p><p>“Allow me to help you,” Arthur smirked.</p><p>Which was how Merlin found himself kneeling on the sunbaked blacktop, setting up a car jack while a literal god loomed above him. Arthur smelled impossibly good through the general stench of car exhaust and tire rubber. His cologne hadn’t worn off in the slightest, even through working on the engine back at the garage and now, standing outside while scrutinizing Merlin’s tire changing efforts and finding them lacking.</p><p>The jack finally in place, Arthur walked around to the other side of the car and knelt, getting the other jack set up quickly and securely. Merlin made it just in time to see Arthur’s round ass in the air while he adjusted the jack before he stood and walked back around to the side with the flat.</p><p>“Uh, what are you doing, Merlin? I hardly need <em>your </em>assistance with changing a tire,” Arthur asked skeptically.</p><p>“I just, uh,” Merlin floundered, “wanted to see how you do it. Since you’re so much better than me at it.”</p><p>Arthur didn’t look convinced, but dropped the subject. “I’d make you do the rest of it, but we’re losing the light and I don’t want to get stuck out here after dark.”</p><p>With nothing else to do, Merlin had a front row seat to Arthur in action, his jaw set and determined, casting a defined shadow along his face. Arthur changed the tire quickly and efficiently, his forearms flexing as he unscrewed the original bolts and took the tire off and rested it against the side of the Jeep. With Merlin’s help, they got the new tire on with no problem, Merlin holding it steady while Arthur worked.</p><p>The grease stain from earlier had faded now, making it look more bruise-like. Privately, Merlin wished it was and allowed himself a quick moment to imagine he had been the one to put it there, to taste Arthur’s skin for himself. It would be salty, and taste faintly of exhaust. Merlin would lick gently, softly, worshipping Arthur’s skin before biting down hard and sucking the mark onto his neck. Everyone who drove with Arthur for the next few days would know he was taken, that he belonged to someone, to Merlin.</p><p>Arthur stood up suddenly, snapping Merlin out of his fantasy.</p><p>“All done. Let’s get this on the back and finish the drive, yeah? Get a milkshake or something, we deserve it.” Arthur walked back to the cargo hold, muttering swears under his breath. Merlin hastened to pick up the old tire and hurry after him.</p><p>Several long minutes later, they were back in the car and driving down the road, the fading orange sun flickering among the trees alongside them.</p><p>“Where do you want that milkshake from, then?” Merlin asked, turning the radio down a little.</p><p>“Ah, take a right up here. I know a place,” Arthur directed, settling back into his thoughts.</p><p>Merlin glanced over at him, flicking back and forth between Arthur’s contemplative face and the road. Should he ask what was wrong? Was that allowed? He’d only know the man a few days. Indecision warred for a moment before he finally broke. “Everything okay?”</p><p>Arthur refused to make eye contact, instead turning to look out the window. “Yeah, yeah, it’s fine. I just. I hate that that happened when we were having such a nice time.”</p><p>Merlin laughed a little, “Arthur, it’s fine. It happens, it’s not a big deal.”</p><p>“Yeah, but you’re new to driving and you’re trying so hard. I don’t want it to scare you off. Everyone should have the ability to move freely if they can.”</p><p>“Hey, don’t worry about it. Look at me,” Merlin prodded, waiting until Arthur turned to look at him. “I would have rather it happened with you than anyone else.”</p><p>Arthur gave him a half smile and a small nod before turning to face out the window again. They didn’t speak again, save for Arthur’s brief directions. A short while later, Merlin pulled up outside of a small, family-owned ice cream shop. Merlin parked in the gravel lot and glanced uncertainly at Arthur, who was already unbuckling his seatbelt and cracking open the door. He glanced back at Merlin and jerked his head, silently urging Merlin to come in with him. Merlin hesitated again and Arthur added, “We won’t be here long, I promise.”</p><p>Merlin slipped out of the car and followed along behind Arthur, bemused as to why they were here of all places. Surely Arthur didn’t bring all of his students here, especially seeing as most of them were likely under the age of eighteen and Arthur was well into his twenties.</p><p>He got his answer a few moments later, pulling open the door to a chorus of pleased “Arthur’s!” Arthur glanced back at him, embarrassed and proud in equal measure. They walked to the counter where an older woman handed them a pair of freshly made milkshakes.</p><p>“Sorry, you’re not intolerant, are you?” Arthur asked, suddenly worried. “I didn’t even think to ask, I’m so sorry. You don’t have to accept it; I shouldn’t have just assumed you ate dairy.”</p><p>“No, no, it’s fine,” Merlin reassured him, reaching for the cup in Arthur’s hands. Arthur let him take it, their fingers brushing and making Merlin’s fingertips tingle. “How do you know this place?”</p><p>One of the women behind the counter interrupted before Arthur could answer. “Oh, Arthur, you never bring your dates here! Why didn’t you give us any warning so we could have tidied up?”</p><p>Arthur flushed, red racing down his neck and disappearing under his shirt collar. “They’re, uh, old family friends, I guess.”</p><p>The women were still talking, mostly amongst themselves. Merlin only heard snippets as they cooed over Merlin and Arthur.</p><p>Guess that answered that question, then.</p><p>After talking with the women behind the counter for a few minutes, Arthur said quiet goodbyes to the women behind the counter and led Merlin back out the door they came in. Breathing in the fresh evening air, Merlin watched Arthur’s tense back as they made their way to the jeep. Why had he brought Merlin here? Was it really just to calm his nerves about driving?</p><p>Shoving the thoughts down, Merlin slipped into the driver’s seat and started the engine, the music filling the silence between them as they drove back to the school.</p><p>///\\\</p><p>The following Saturday, Merlin arrived at Pendragon’s Driving School bright and early, ready to get on with the next lesson. He had spent the last few days overanalyzing every moment of the last drive, attempting to puzzle through why Arthur would have taken him to the ice cream shop. In the end, Merlin had given up trying to figure it out, deciding he was reading too much into it. It was just Arthur being kind to someone he thought was a new driver experiencing a stressful situation.</p><p>Merlin felt a little bad in hindsight, knowing that he hadn’t been as freaked out as Arthur may have thought.</p><p>Opening the doors, he entered and found the lobby empty. No one, not even Mithian, was here. Did Merlin get the date wrong? He looked back out the glass door into the parking lot, realizing with trepidation there were no other cars parked there. Discomfort growing in his stomach, Merlin pulled out his phone and hastily opened it, flipping to find the email with the list of lesson dates.</p><p>The squeak of the garage door broke him out of his oncoming panic, and Merlin jerked his head up in time to see Arthur enter the waiting area. He flashed Merlin an easy smile, and jerked his head a little, beckoning Merlin to follow him to the garage.</p><p>“Where is Mithian?” Merlin asked in lieu of a greeting, catching up to Arthur in the hall.</p><p>Arthur’s jaw tightened as he kept walking, pushing the garage door open with a little more force than strictly necessary, “She doesn’t work on Saturdays. Were you hoping to see her or something?”</p><p>Merlin shook his head, then remembered Arthur wasn’t looking at him. “No, no, I just thought I’d gotten the date mixed up.”</p><p>Relaxing visibly, Arthur entered the garage and stopped just short of the open floor. He gestured broadly, “Choose any car you want, Merlin, we’re going on the interstate today.”</p><p><em>Finally,</em> Merlin thought to himself. He looked around at the collection of vehicles. Nothing quite what he would really choose to drive, but some of them weren’t too bad. He walked around a little, taking stock and said, “Let’s drive the blue Nissan.”</p><p>For a driving school car, it was kind of nice. It was some type of hybrid with electronic settings and the option for automatic or manual driving. It sat low to the ground, but not so low its fenders would catch on everything. The outside was painted a metallic blue, right up Merlin’s alley as far as that was concerned.</p><p>Arthur nodded and smirked at his choice, but didn’t say anything as he ducked back inside to grab the keys from the rack. Tossing them to Merlin, they walked to the car and took their seats. Merlin took an extra moment to adjust the mirrors and get situated before looking over to the passenger seat.</p><p>Arthur was staring at him, something like affection in his eyes and a small smile playing around the corners of his mouth. Catching Merlin’s eyes, he smiled broadly and asked, “Ready?”</p><p>Taking a deep breath, Merlin nodded. Shifting the gear into Reverse, he backed out of the space and headed towards the front of the school. “I’m assuming we’re done with the track?”</p><p>Chuckling, Arthur replied, “Clearly you’re ready to get off it, so let’s just warm up on the way to the interstate. Anywhere you want to go?”</p><p>Merlin thought back to the last drive, how Arthur had taken somewhere clearly personal, and smiled softly, “Yeah, I think I know a place.”</p><p>Cruising down the backroads of the town with the windows rolled down and good music blasting out the speakers with Arthur’s steady presence was quickly becoming one of his favorite ways of driving. He felt a slight pang of unease, thinking about how this could potentially be one of the last times he got to do this if Arthur rejected him at the end. But now wasn’t the time to think about that, now was the time to <em>drive</em>.</p><p>Approaching the onramp, Arthur gave a few instructions, talking him through what was about to happen. “You have to speed up faster than we’ve gone before in order to join the cars already on the interstate. Make sure you leave your blinker on until we’re in the lane, just to be safe. Stay calm and stay aware. Check your mirrors, keep your eyes on the people around you. My driving teacher used to say, ‘Drive like everyone else is on crack.’ You’ll see why here in a minute.”</p><p>Merlin snorted, knowing full well that that was the most accurate description he’d ever heard someone use to describe what driving on this highway was like.</p><p>The light changed, and Merlin turned onto the onramp and picked up speed. He rolled up the windows and flipped his indicator light on, leaning forward to better check the mirror for the cars in the closest lane. Seeing a gap in the line, Merlin took the opportunity and merged smoothly, flipping his blinker back off as he settled into his seat.</p><p>Arthur clapped beside him, “Good job, Merlin, very well done. I don’t see any panic in your eyes at all,” he laughed. “You’re a natural.”</p><p>Merlin tipped his head in a mock bow, “Thank you, thank you. I must be a prodigy at the ripe old age of twenty-three.”</p><p>Checking behind him, Merlin flipped his indicator back on and got in the less crowded middle lane and pressed down on the accelerator until he met the speed limit. Arthur turned to look at him, “So where are we going? Not going to kidnap and kill me, are you?”</p><p>“No, not the plan for today,” Merlin laughed and nervously turned his attention back to the road. “There’s a restaurant I know of downtown, thought maybe we could have lunch? Since you got us milkshakes the last time.”</p><p>Arthur quirked his lips and nodded, “Sounds fair to me.”</p><p>Chancing it, Merlin turned to look at Arthur to gauge his reaction when the loud, brash horn of a semi-truck caught his attention.</p><p>“Merlin!” Arthur gasped, reaching for the brake on his side of the car.</p><p>Jerking his gaze back to the road, a massive lorry was spinning in a half-circle, tipping over as gravity did its job. The cars surrounding it were swerving sharply, brake lights lit up red as drivers slammed on the brakes in an attempt to get out of the way and escape being crushed. Instinct taking over, Merlin jerked the wheel sharply to the left as instinct took over, and barked, “Don’t touch the brake, Arthur!”</p><p>Arthur jerked his head to look at Merlin, confusion furrowing his brow, but he did as instructed, bracing himself in the seat as much as he could.</p><p>The car swerved, following Merlin’s commands easily, and narrowly avoided smashing into the side of a car that had come seemingly from nowhere. Merlin’s world focused down to just him and the purring chunk of metal under his fingertips.</p><p>Pressing down on the gas pedal, Merlin gave the engine enough juice to maneuver his way through the cars that were sensible enough to pull over onto the shoulder and out of the way. Merlin paused for a moment, trying to get a sense of the chaos going on around them.</p><p>Another horn blared, and Merlin looked over to see a truck with a blown tire careening around the side of the downed lorry and straight for them. In the passenger seat, Merlin heard Arthur’s sharp intake of breath as he attempted to be quiet and let Merlin focus on driving. He wondered, briefly, what Arthur must be thinking at this moment. His previously unexperienced student was suddenly pulling tricks and driving with all the seriousness of a seasoned professional.</p><p>Merlin spared a moment to feel guilty about lying, but shoved it aside for now as the truck barreled closer to Arthur’s side of the car.</p><p>Merlin stepped on the accelerator, jolting the car forwards sharply. Pulling up on the emergency brake with one hand and spinning the steering wheel around with the other, Merlin stepped hard on the gas and drifted the rear end of their car to the side, neatly avoiding the truck.</p><p>The lorry had finally come to a complete stop, laying on its side like a beached whale across the middle of the interstate. Breathing hard, Merlin glanced over at Arthur, looking for some instruction on what they should do now. Arthur stayed still, staring at the overturned giant with vacant eyes.</p><p>“Do you want to stay or just get out of here?” Merlin asked quietly. The sound of distant sirens teased at his ears. “Emergency crew is almost here. I don’t know when we’ll be allowed to leave if we don’t go now.”</p><p>Arthur nodded mutely, staying silent as Merlin turned back to the road and picked his way out of the crowd to the other side of the lorry and the open highway. Flooring it, he quickly caught up to the pack of cars that had joined from the nearest onramp.</p><p>They drove in heavy silence for what felt like hours. Merlin had turned the radio off when the semi-truck had first begun collapsing to allow him to focus better, and now felt too awkward to reach over and turn the volume back up, resigning himself to the suffocating energy in the car.</p><p>Merlin signaled, finally taking an exit and leaving the interstate behind. Taking the first right, Merlin drove them to a small diner on the edge of the city. Parking the Nissan in a space near the back of the lot, Merlin turned the engine off and unbuckled his seatbelt, unsure of what to do next.</p><p>A few moments passed before Arthur finally broke the silence. “So that was a lie, you <em>can</em> drive.”</p><p>Merlin turned to face him, back braced against the door. “I can do more than <em>drive</em>, Arthur. I’m a professional stunt driver.”</p><p>“<em>Why</em>?” Arthur looked over at him incredulously. “Why did you sign up for lessons, when you’ve obviously been driving for a while?”</p><p>Giving a self-deprecating chuckle, Merlin answered honestly, “I saw you on a billboard and almost wrecked my truck. I had to find you and meet you, and I couldn’t think of a better way at the time.”</p><p>Arthur snorted in disbelief, raising his eyebrows and turning away to look out the windshield. “You signed up for <em>driving lessons</em> so you could meet me? I can’t tell if that’s the most romantic thing I’ve ever heard or the most stupid.”</p><p>Merlin lifted his shoulders in a tiny shrug. Arthur wasn’t exactly wrong.</p><p>“So what’s the verdict, then? Now that you’ve met me,” Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow in challenge.</p><p>“I was planning to ask you out after the last lesson.” Merlin admitted, rubbing the back of his neck and fighting the rising flush.</p><p>Arthur broke out in a grin and looked down at his lap, lips twitching as he fought to control how pleased he obviously was. Composing himself, Arthur raised another imperious eyebrow, “Guess you’ll have to find out the answer at your last lesson, then.”</p><p>///\\\</p><p>When Merlin arrived at the driving school for the final lesson, he drove all the way up to the office. Parking, he shut off the engine and took a deep, shuddering breath. He wasn’t entirely sure what to expect from this evening and had dressed in a combination of clothes that he could pass off as casual if Arthur insisted on making him finish the actual lesson.</p><p>Stepping out of his recently washed and polished 1967 Shelby Mustang, Merlin straightened his leather jacket and brushed nonexistent dust off his slim fitting black trousers. Pocketing his keys, he walked to the door and pulled it open, entering the lobby to find it empty. Trying to quell his nerves, Merlin pulled out his phone to check the time. Arthur always seemed to be in the garage when Merlin showed up, so he headed towards the back door.</p><p>Pushing the garage door open with a <em>squeak</em>, Merlin entered to find Arthur picking up tools scattered around the side of one of the school’s vehicles. Merlin leaned against the side of a nearby car and watched him pick up each tool, wiping the grease off and carefully replacing them back in their place. Double checking he hadn’t left anything in the engine, Arthur unlatched the supports and let the hood close with a <em>bang!</em> He picked up the toolbox and turned around, jumping as he found Merlin there, watching him.  </p><p>“Hi, weirdo,” Arthur gestured with his free hand, “What are you doing, creeping on me?”</p><p>“No, I just like to watch you work,” Merlin smiled, and stood up straight. He followed Arthur back inside to put the toolbox away. “Whenever you’re ready, we can go.”</p><p>“Oh? I don’t remember being asked out properly,” Arthur retorted, disappearing into the bathroom to clean up before Merlin could reply.</p><p>Merlin waited outside, leaned against the wall and smiled to himself. He hoped Arthur would let him take him out now, instead of waiting through another damn lesson Merlin clearly didn’t need.</p><p>Arthur came out of the bathroom, face wiped clean of grit and dressed in loose jeans and a button down, the sleeves rolled to the elbow, exposing veiny, defined forearms Merlin hoped he would be able to taste soon.</p><p>Pushing off the wall, Merlin met him in the middle of the hall, excitement and desire making his stomach twist and turn on itself. He stepped closer into Arthur’s space, feeling Arthur’s hot breath on his face. “Arthur,” he breathed, voice soft but audible in the silence of the office. “Will you go on a date with me?”</p><p>“Even though you lied to me about your driving abilities?” Arthur smirked, “I suppose the least I can do is give you a chance, since you went to all that effort.” His eyes flicked down to Merlin’s lips, licking his own slowly before stepping back and clapping Merlin on the shoulder, breaking the moment and leaving Merlin bereft. “Show me what you’ve got planned, then.”</p><p>“Um, right then.” Merlin staggered back out the front door, listening to Arthur chuckle as he trailed behind. He paused on the sidewalk outside the door while Arthur took a moment to lock up. Walking out to his car, Merlin turned and leant his lower back against the side in a parody of the pose he’d first seen Arthur in on the billboard a few weeks ago. He waited for Arthur to turn around with a small smirk, wanting to see Arthur’s face when he saw what Merlin usually drove.</p><p>Arthur’s face was a comical mix of shock and awe upon turning around and seeing Merlin’s refurbished ’67 Shelby Mustang GT500. Merlin felt a wave of pride and pleasure at having someone else, someone he <em>liked</em>, appreciate Merlin’s taste in automobiles and his chosen profession. Standing up, Merlin walked around to the passenger side and opened the door, gesturing for Arthur to get in.</p><p>“Please tell me I get to drive this at some point,” Arthur asked breathlessly, stepping past Merlin and taking a seat. “I’ve never seen one this old look so nice, where did you even find it?”</p><p>Merlin slid into the driver’s seat and rubbed the center of the steering wheel affectionately. “It was my dad’s. I rebuilt it when I was a teenager.”</p><p>Arthur nodded appreciatively, touching the authentic vinyl seating reverently with his fingertips. “You did a great job. It looks amazing.”</p><p>Flushing, Merlin started the engine and backed out of the space, turning onto the road.</p><p>Arthur tried several times to ask where they were going or what they would be doing, but Merlin refused to give any details. Finally, they pulled up to an empty, concrete lot. Merlin idled for a minute, looking over at Arthur. “Got your seatbelt on?”</p><p>Arthur nodded mutely, his eyes wide in excitement as he began to put together what they were about to do.</p><p>“Do you trust me?”</p><p>Again, Arthur nodded, his eyebrows climbing into his fringe.</p><p>Merlin smiled at him and reached over to crank the stereo, the sounds of Powerglide blasting out of the windows into the evening air.</p><p>Rolling his shoulders, Merlin took a deep breath and pressed hard on the gas, tires squealing as he took off down the flat stretch of concrete. He pulled on the emergency brake, whipping the wheel around in a circle, the rear end of the car sliding around in a curve.</p><p>Beside him, Arthur raised his hands and whooped, the wind ruffling his hair.</p><p>Pulling out of the doughnut, the Mustang flew across the empty lot, picking up speed. He chanced a quick glance at Arthur, who looked like he was having the time of his life. His hair had been blown into a tousled mess, his cheeks dimpled with a wide smile. The hand closest to the car door was braced along the roof of the car, tendons in his arm flexing as he gripped the car for balance.</p><p>Merlin turned back to the road, his own face breaking into an even bigger smile. Giving the GT another small boost, he swiveled the wheel slightly to the right and whirled the wheel around, turning the car in a tight, 180-degree turn. Straightening up, Merlin allowed the car to slow down, taking another moment to enjoy the unabashed joy on Arthur’s face.</p><p>Merlin reached up and turned the stereo down a little, nudging Arthur to get his attention. “Do you remember how much I struggled with parallel parking?”</p><p>“Oh, so it wasn’t a <em>complete</em> lie, then,” Arthur teased.</p><p>Merlin shook his head and rolled his eyes, “No, I really am bad at them. But it’s just because I do them like this.”</p><p>Pressing on the gas, Merlin picked up speed again, racing down the lot. Taking a second to judge the distance, Merlin pulled up on the emergency brake, spinning the wheel in his other hand. The car turned parallel to the edge of the lot, coming to a stop neatly along the edge.</p><p>Arthur sat, his mouth hanging open slightly. “I’ve never seen anyone parallel park that way. Don’t think you could get away with it in the city, though.”</p><p>Throwing back his head, Merlin let out a loud, full body laugh. Clutching his left arm around his waist, he tipped forward to rest his forehead against the top of the wheel. Tears were beginning to leak out of the side of his eye as he sat back up and composed himself. He turned to look at Arthur, whose own face had broken into a wild smile.</p><p>As Merlin’s laughter faded, he reached out a hand and took hold of Arthur’s, stroking his thumb across Arthur’s knuckles. “So what did you think of real driving?”</p><p>Arthur raised an eyebrow and flattened his lips into a line, “I can’t believe I didn’t figure it out sooner. I thought maybe you were just very intuitive.”</p><p>“Oh, I’m <em>very</em> intuitive,” Merlin husked. Lowering his head, he looked up at Arthur from under his eyelashes and raised Arthur’s hand to his lips to brush a soft kiss across the back of Arthur’s hand. Heat and arousal pooled in his stomach as he caught Arthur’s sharp intake of breath over the volume of the stereo.</p><p>Merlin unbuckled his seatbelt and slid across the bench seat in one fluid motion, his unoccupied hand reaching to grab the back of Arthur’s neck and bring him in for a searing kiss. Sliding his hand up the back of Arthur’s head, he tangled his fingers in the windblown strands and pulled him ever closer.</p><p>Releasing Arthur’s hand, Merlin deftly undid the seatbelt, unwinding it from Arthur’s middle. Now free to move, Arthur met him more forcefully, a small moan escaping him as Merlin nipped his bottom lip. Taking the opportunity, he slipped his tongue inside Arthur’s mouth, sliding slick and wet alongside Arthur’s.</p><p>Merlin pulled back slowly, pulling Arthur’s bottom lip after him and biting down, letting Arthur’s lip slide out between his teeth, coaxing another gasp from him. Leaning his forehead against Arthur’s, Merlin took a shaky breath, trying to calm his racing heart.</p><p>“Can I fuck you?” Merlin breathed, trailing his nose around to nuzzle against the side of Arthur’s neck. “I know we didn’t really discuss it, but I just. I just want you so badly, Arthur.”</p><p>Pressed close like this, Merlin could feel Arthur’s own pounding heart echoing through his ribs. Dragging his tongue up the side of Arthur’s neck and dipping behind his ear made it beat even harder. Drawing a ragged breath of his own, Arthur gave a dazed nod. “Yeah. Yeah, want you inside me, Merlin.”</p><p>Disentangling, Merlin pressed a soft kiss to his lips, and slid back across the bench. Reaching under the steer well, he pulled a lever and pushed the steering wheel all the way up. Bending slightly, he felt around for a moment before finding the bar that adjusted the seat. Pulling it up, he slid the bench seat back as far as it would go. Winking back at Arthur, he opened the car door and stepped out into the warm evening air.</p><p>Walking quickly around to Arthur’s side of the car, he opened the door and slid a leg across Arthur’s thighs, straddling his lap. Bracing his hands along the top of the backrest on either side of Arthur’s shoulders, Merlin pressed his lips against Arthur’s roughly.</p><p>Arthur opened up to him immediately, letting Merlin thrust his tongue into Arthur’s mouth. His hands came up to Merlin’s hips, gripping tightly for a moment before winding their way up under Merlin’s leather jacket, heat burning through his shirt. Trailing down Merlin’s sides, Arthur brought his hands between them and tried to push the jacket off his shoulders, tangling around his arms.</p><p>With a huff, Merlin pulled back and ripped the jacket from his arms, balling it up and throwing it into the backseat. Arthur gripped the open collar of Merlin’s button up and yanked him back down. Merlin made a sound halfway between a grunt of surprise and a moan, his own hands going back to their place on the backrest.</p><p>Merlin lifted up slightly and ground his hips down against Arthur’s hardening cock, relishing the hiss of surprised pleasure it earned him. He brought his hands down to Arthur’s belt, pushing the shirttails out of the way and undoing the clasp quickly. Popping the button and pulling the zip down, Merlin pulled Arthur’s cock the rest of the way out and began stroking, his grip sure and firm. Swiping his thumb across the head, Merlin leaned forward and pressed his lips to Arthur’s neck. He threw his head back, giving Merlin access to trail upwards, biting marks into his skin.</p><p>Finally pulling back, Merlin crawled off Arthur’s lap and stepped back out of the car. Opening the glove compartment, he pulled out a travel sized tube of lube and a few condoms, setting them on the dash. Arthur raised an eyebrow at Merlin, who shrugged sheepishly, “You’ll see.” He began unbuckling and removing his own belt and jerked his chin in Arthur’s direction. “Lay down.”</p><p>Arthur did as he was told, ass almost hanging off the edge of the seat closest to Merlin, his feet braced against the concrete. His head was tucked right in the middle of the steering wheel on the seat, giving him only a few inches of space before he’d be ramming the top of his head into the car door. Merlin hoped he’d think to catch himself before that happened.</p><p>“Still want to do this?” Merlin asked, just to be sure. Arthur propped himself up on his elbows, narrowly missing hitting his head on the edge of the steering wheel, and gave Merlin an unamused look. Merlin returned the look, reminding him, “If you change your mind, just tell me and we’ll stop.”</p><p>Moving forward to stand between Arthur’s outstretched legs, Merlin removed Arthur’s trousers and boxers in one pull, slipping his shoes off along the way. Throwing it unceremoniously into the floorboard, he crawled in after Arthur and pressed his still clothed cock against Arthur’s bare one, drawing out a surprised gasp.</p><p>Bracing one hand next to Arthur’s head and the other along the top of the backrest to keep his weight off, Merlin gave Arthur a slow, soft kiss. Taking his time to taste him, swiping his tongue through his mouth, drawing Arthur’s tongue into his own mouth to suck on it. He moved his hips in small, circular motions, loving the way Arthur twitched beneath him.</p><p>Arthur whimpered as Merlin, reluctantly, backed out of the cab. Picking up the lube, he flipped the cap and poured a liberal amount onto his fingers. Moving to stand between Arthur’s legs once more, he pushed the back of one knee up for Arthur to hold, and pushed the other up himself, holding it in place with his free hand.</p><p>Reaching down with the other hand, he wrapped his hand around Arthur’s dick, stroking a few times. Moving down, he cupped Arthur’s balls, rolling them in his fingers. He’d have to wait until another time to get his mouth on them, he thought with a pang of disappointment. Same as he would Arthur’s ass. That would be more comfortable in an actual bed, for both of them.</p><p>Trailing down, Merlin traced Arthur’s perineum, pressing the pad of his fingertip lightly into Arthur’s hole. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Merlin pressed his finger into Arthur slowly, taking his time to work Arthur open, gently fucking him with his finger. Adding a second finger, he moved faster, quirking them just so, drawing a low moan out of Arthur, his cock dribbling precome. Scissoring a few times, he added a third finger and only managed a few thrusts before Arthur’s writhing moans were too much for him to bear.</p><p>Merlin removed his fingers and pushed his trousers and boxers down to pool at his ankles, his erect cock springing forward. Ripping open the foil packet of a condom, he rolled it on and added more lube. Crawling back over Arthur’s body, he braced one hand against the car door and gripped Arthur’s chin with the other, holding him in place while he roughly took Arthur’s mouth. Prying his lips open and thrusting his tongue inside, Merlin ground his cock down against Arthur’s, drawing out desperate sounds that he greedily swallowed.</p><p>Drawing back, Merlin nipped at Arthur’s lips and smiled wickedly. “Ready?”</p><p>Arthur managed a dazed nod, bringing his hands up just in time to run his fingers up Merlin’s torso when he drew back.</p><p>Merlin gripped the base of his cock and rubbed the head against Arthur’s hole. Pulling one of Arthur’s legs to settle around his hip and propping the other on his shoulder, Merlin pressed forward. He stroked his fingers along the inside of Arthur’s thigh to ground him, watching as his cock was swallowed by Arthur’s ass.</p><p>Pausing just short of being fully seated, Merlin drew back, pulling back out halfway. He glanced up to check on Arthur, who had his eyes squeezed shut, face twisted in pleasure. Feeling a small bubble of pettiness rise up that he didn’t have Arthur’s full attention, he pinched the inside of Arthur’s thigh.</p><p>Arthur’s eyes snapped open, head jerking up a little to stare at him incredulously. “The fuck?”</p><p>“I want to see you,” Merlin bit out. Rolling his eyes, Arthur capitulated and kept his eyes fixed on Merlin’s. Satisfied, Merlin snapped his hips forward, driving half his cock into Arthur’s ass. Arthur arched his back and gasped, hands scrabbling for purchase on anything in the car he could reach. His hand knocked sharply against the gearshift, almost pushing it out of gear.</p><p>“Watch it,” Merlin growled. Phoning Elyan to come pick him up because his date had wrecked his car while being fucked stupid was not on Merlin’s list of things to do that night. Merlin pulled back and drove in, crawling back over Arthur’s body to pin Arthur’s hands to the car door. Biting kisses down his neck, Merlin pounded into Arthur’s ass, feeling the Mustang rocking beneath them with the force of it.</p><p>Arthur was writhing beneath him, doing his best to meet Merlin’s thrusts despite Merlin’s body weighing him down. He moaned Merlin’s name, wrists flexing as he clenched and unclenched his fists in Merlin’s grip. Speeding up, Merlin twisted his hips, hitting Arthur’s prostate on every thrust now. Arthur’s cock leaked precome, smearing their shirt hems with wet.</p><p>If Arthur rendered the car undrivable now, there would be no living this down. To anyone.</p><p>Merlin drew himself up, covering his slight pause in thrusting by wrapping his fingers around Arthur’s cock and stroking quickly, the slick sounds filling the cab. Straightening up, Merlin resumed thrusting in small jerks, keeping time with the hand he kept on Arthur’s cock. He waited until Arthur was beginning to arch his back, mouth opening in a near silent scream, and stopped, clamping down tightly on the base of Arthur’s cock.</p><p>“Not yet,” Merlin grit out, trying not to smile at Arthur’s sob of frustration. “Just a bit longer.”</p><p>Soothing Arthur’s frustration with a few soft strokes, Merlin resumed thrusting. He quickly picked up speed, the sounds of slapping skin drifting out into the night through the open car door.</p><p>Arthur braced his hands on the door above his head and began meeting Merlin’s thrusts, forcing a groan out of him. His thrusts quickly became erratic, stuttering as pleasure welled up in him. All at once, it crested and Merlin pushed in deep, filling the condom with come.</p><p>Merlin continued to move in shallow, jerky movements, milking his dick with Arthur’s ass. Pulling out, he ripped the condom off and rolled another one on, slicking up quickly and sliding right back into Arthur’s fucked out, oversensitive hole.</p><p>“What the fuck,” Arthur gasped out. “How are you still going?”</p><p>Merlin barked out a laugh, “I told you you’d see.”</p><p>Arthur huffed and rolled his eyes, giving his head a slight shake. Merlin chuckled again and pulled Arthur’s legs out from around him, getting a grip under his knees and yanking him closer and holding his ass a few inches off the seat. The angle changed, Merlin stimulating Arthur with every thrust.</p><p>With a cry, Arthur’s cock jerked and spurted come in long, hot ropes across his chest and Merlin’s seats. Merlin wrapped his hand around it, stroking firmly as he continued leaking all over his stomach.</p><p>Arthur’s head flopped back onto the seat, lying boneless across the seat while Merlin continued using his ass. Adjusting his grip, Merlin held Arthurs hip up with one hand and braced the other against the (side roof thing) of the Mustang. Fucking in earnest now, he slammed into Arthur’s ass, thrusting in as deeply as he could.</p><p>Finally Merlin felt his balls tighten up, warmth pooling at the base of his spine. Giving a few more thrusts, he slammed in one more time and came, filling the second condom.</p><p>Panting, he set Arthur’s hips down gently, his legs falling limply to the ground.</p><p>“Still alive down there?” Merlin asked, bracing his forearms against the top of the Mustang and looking down at Arthur’s limp figure.</p><p>Laughing weakly, Arthur said breathlessly, “I think you broke me.”</p><p>Merlin grinned down at him for a moment, cheeks dimpling. He moved to rifle through the glove compartment, coming up with a package of wet wipes and began wiping Arthur off.</p><p>“Do this often, then?” Arthur asked, raising an eyebrow.</p><p>Merlin flushed crimson, and refused to meet Arthur’s eyes. Moving on to wipe himself down, Merlin shrugged. “I guess.” He flushed again and bent to pull his jeans back up.</p><p>“Not, not this specifically. I don’t take people to drive with me. They usually can’t handle it.” Merlin swallowed audibly. “You’re the first for that.”</p><p>Arthur considered this for a moment. He pulled himself into a sitting position, wincing slightly, and gestured for Merlin to come closer.</p><p>Stepping forward, Merlin stood between Arthur’s naked legs, an uncomfortable knot forming in his stomach. It wasn’t that he was ashamed of his lifestyle, and usually he didn’t care what other people thought of him in this regard. But it mattered now, with Arthur sitting there and looking for all the world like a kicked puppy.</p><p>Arthur looked up at him and rested his chin against Merlin’s diaphragm, his head rising and falling with each of Merlin’s breaths. They stood there for a moment, the air turning cool while the sweat dried.</p><p>Finally, Arthur broke the silence, his voice soft. “I won’t share, Merlin. So if that’s going to be a problem, you should just take me home now.”</p><p>Merlin shook his head emphatically, relief welling up in him and smoothing the knot of his stomach away. “It won’t, I promise. I didn’t pay for driving lessons for a one-off.”</p><p>“Good to hear,” Arthur smiled shyly. “I had a nice time tonight.”</p><p>Merlin grinned back and stroked his fingers through Arthur’s hair. “I’m glad. Do you have anywhere else to be tonight?”</p><p>Arthur shook his head, and pulled Merlin down for a slow kiss. “Take me home?”</p><p>Breaking out of the kiss, Merlin felt a smile stretch across his face, and he nodded again.</p><p>Reaching down to the floorboard, he picked up Arthur’s trousers and shoes, bringing them to Arthur. After he shimmied back into his bottoms, Merlin knelt on the ground in front of him and helped him slide his shoes on and did up the laces. Taking Arthur’s hand in his, he gently kissed the knuckles and stood. Arthur turned back to face forward and let Merlin shut the door for him.</p><p>Hurrying around to the driver’s side, Merlin slipped into the seat and readjusted everything back to the way it was. Starting up the engine, he glanced over at Arthur to find him already watching Merlin.</p><p>“Ready?”</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Edit: Now that we’ve been revealed, I’m adding this <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/14w3uZkgKlWOeOCOI9f20b?si=1pIh-U7vRheU2NTgNkS4qA">playlist</a> that I used to help write the fic! It’s not very long, but I hope you think it goes with the fic as well as I do.</p></blockquote></div></div>
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